The Night-Raven

[Nicnivin]

Indigo musk, wild plum, rose geranium, benzoin, night-blooming jasmine, and patchouli.

 

I so wanted to love this. The description sounded so gloriously dark and rich, but between the patchouli, plum, and benzoin, I ended up smelling like a cat's litterbox.

[LizziesLuck]

All of these notes are good for me except jasmine, which I generally amp horribly and am simply not fond of, nor does it smell nice on my chemistry. Trying this anyway though!

 

 

Wet: Mmm, rich, earthy, woody patchouli. This is a really smooth, dry patchouli, not the gnarly chewy kind. It's nice with the sweetness of the benzoin and plum. The rose geranium is lovely, and miraculously, I don't smell any jasmine yet.

 

 

Dry: This is quite the morpher on me! The middle stage is almost entirely rose geranium, which has a slight citrus sort of edge, the way rose sometimes does. After about 45 mins this is mostly benzoin, which I like a lot, but I have other benzoin scents that I like as well or better. Overall though, I am REALLY glad I tried this, as I avoid jasmine like the plague, and not once did I smell jasmine in this. Which means there may be other blends I avoided because of jasmine that have a chance of working on me after all!

[Mermaid-on-Land]

In the bottle, the first sniff impression is almost minty. I'm not too familiar with most of the notes in this. Applying and wet stages, I think I get the indigo musk and something darkly floral. A bit of something somewhat spicy, or maybe sharp is the word I'm looking for? The plum isn't overly sweet. I can barely detect it. Most notes in this blend together to me, it's hard to pick them out. The throw is great, I can detect it just standing still. LUV. For colors (maybe due to the night blooming flowers) I get a blue/purple/black vibe from this. It smells very true to concept for me. Plum appears subtly later on, which sweetens it a bit. Then the plum and the floral aspect take turns as to which is the most dominant note. A coworker told me I smelled good too! Oh and I've been wearing it for a solid 15 hours and my mom suddenly said, oooh what perfume are you wearing, you smell really good! So The Night-Raven stays really well on me too! One of my favorites so far.

[Cali]

Hmmm. Wet, this is almost velvety. Smooth and a bit ...zesty? I think it might be the combination of the jasmine and benzoin in there.
On my skin, there's almost something foody about it, but it's also like walking into a forest full of bushes of fresh berries n' whatnot.

I have to get used to it, but it's very, very interesting. Cold, dark, and gender-neutral/feminine-leaning.

It reminds me a bit of the forest reverie when it's been on my skin for a while; minty, dark and green but still with something that keeps it from going too boring and gives it a little twist. The forest reverie is the sweet, summery sister of this, while this stays on it's dark, misty path.

Edited July 6, 2016 by Cali

[roseus]

Sweet, cool, smoky. Like jasmine incense. I love it!

[lizabelle]

I'm surprised there's no citrus in this from the first whiffs, but looking at the notes I'm guessing it's the geranium giving it that fresh quality. As it settles the benzoin is the star, with the other notes darkening and spicing it up a bit. Not my favorite resinous scent, but a very nice one!

[Spaztic]

I find the rather refreshing, which was unexpected. I get mint, I swear I do!

The floral goes a wee bit soapy on me, otherwise this would totally go in my "to buy pile".

Minty, sweet florals

[doomsday_disco]

In the imp: Musky rose geranium, benzoin, jasmine, and patchouli.

 

Wet: The musk, benzoin, rose geranium, and jasmine take the center stage at first. Then, the jasmine and rose geranium decide that they ought to be playing bigger roles, and the patchouli rushes in to join them. They're not able to overtake the resin, though.

 

Dry: Mostly benzoin and indigo musk, some plum, and rose geranium, with some jasmine and patchouli behind those notes. The benzoin is really strong.

 

Verdict: The benzoin in this isn't a sweet variety. This a dry, musky resin and floral scent. Not for me.

[Joyleaf_]

Oh dear. This has jasmine in it, doesnt it. Luckily I am not one of those poor souls that Jasmine turns to poo on, however, Jasmine loves my skin and I amp it like no other. This ends up being a very perfumey Jasmine with a light green background. I am forever doomed to avoid Jasmine it seems. Sadness, for I do love the other notes dearly.

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

i've held onto this for years because it smells so amazing in the bottle. never seemed strong enough to wear in a locket, and just wasn't as good on my skin as i wanted it to be.

not as much as it seems like it should have been

 

pretty much everything except the jasmine is just the sort of thing i gravitate towards.... jasmine usually goes poo, or just wrong somehow. so i'm blaming jasmine for why this doesn't work on me.

 

 

there's this deep plummy-purple (verging on Money House) incensey, patchouli-y deliciousness with the faintest wafts of the almost-rose that is geranium.

 

but hinting around the edges of all of that is something poopish, or even almost the tiniest bit civet-y.

finally posting my notes since this bottle is going on to a better home.

[quigza]

It smells like earthy jasmine, geranium leaf, and something sweet (it smells more like dragons blood than plum to me). Thankfully, the musk doesn't really show up. I like this.

[donkehpoo]

Wet: Jasmine and patchouli. There's a very earthy undertone to the entire blend(assuming coming mainly from the patchouli), and there's a very floral-baby powder scent going on with the jasmine. A little bit of sweetness coming through.

 

Dry: Surprisingly, there's less baby powder coming through now! I have no idea where the patchouli is now, but I can't smell any at all. This is a sweet jasmine scent now, with the plum adding in something a bit.. candy like.

 

I'm super surprised by this! For someone who doesn't like jasmine scents 99% of the time, this is one I could actually see myself wearing again. (That being said, I think an imp's worth will be enough!)

[torischroeder9]

In the imp: Definitely patchouli. And something wispy and airily sweet. I cannot decide what that might be. 

 

On my skin:

 

Wet, I can detect the earthiness of patchouli, benzoin, and the hint of rose geranium. Weird, but it does evoke "night" to me, even at this stage. If you've ever smelled fresh, sweet grass grow damp with increased evening humidity (a fresh, cool moisture, not stagnant swamp feel), then you might get what I'm talking about here. Also, the overall impression I get from the scent is more than the sum of any individual notes I can pick out (except maybe the patchouli, which is both identifiable and clearly contributing to atmosphere, though not in any head shop kind of way this time around). 

 

As it dries, I get a soft, earthy scent, graced with accents of rose geranium and jasmine (both of which are surprisingly subdued on me) and occasionally sweetened by plum. I'm not sure what indigo musk should smell like as a single note, but I'm getting the soft purple of a new-night sky (you know, well after sunset at the far edge of twilight, just before the sky turns full night-black). 

 

Given time to develop, the jasmine and plum both gradually become stronger. If this is the scent's main battle for dominance, I'm kind of hoping the plum wins. 

 

Huh. Unfortunately, what seems to win this scent battle is time. After about an hour of wear, the whole scent starts to fade -- indigo musk first, jasmine hanging on until the last. Too bad. I'm intrigued by it when it's on my skin, but I probably won't find much use for it if it's just the scenic route to some jasmine.  

[feyofthefellwood]

Got this as a frimp. Unfortunately, this one really doesn't work on me. I'm not a huge patchouli fan and combined with the jasmine, on my skin at least, it's a very pungent, musty smell that I can taste in my mouth. This probably means I should stick to sweeter, lighter scents.

[theseagrows]

i received a frimp of this one! i smell the indigo musk and geranium most strongly at first. it's musky and slightly herbal. this musk reminds me more of bpal's red musk than blue musk but it's softer. i get a hint of jasmine and plum which are also fairly soft. it's mostly a dusky, musky plum on my skin. nice but not my cup of tea.

[Honey]

Funny how this is one of the few rose scents that I put on and that doesn't go completely iffy and soapy on me!

 

Wet, this is very dark, purple, and fancy.

The plum, rose, jasmine and patchouli are very rich, luxurious and complex.

It's neither too heavy nor too heady. It's neither too stinky nor too earthy. It's a bit spicy, like incense, but overall a very nice and well-grounded floral blend.

 

It could be a more floral version of Mme. Moriarty without the vanilla/SO in it.

It is sweet and only a bit tart (as prunes would smell) - and totally wearable for someone who usually hates rose.

Like, seriously, this is the first rose blend that I will keep for reference. 😮

 

[starbrow]

Oh this is so pretty! The indigo musk permeates each phase of wearing The Night-Raven with its dark yet friendly aura - a drop of elderberry, blackberry, and/or plum in this musk, I think? And that's in addition to the extra plum that's been added to this blend, but it's still not a plum-heavy kind of scent, just a little shimmer in the dark twilight of these woods. I really do get kind of a dusky forest feeling from wearing The Night-Raven, the smooth quiet resins of benzoin and patchouli whispering softly together.

 

We can't forget the florals, either. Two usually loud flowers have been blended in flawlessly. Rose geranium has a touch of subtle spice (not rose, though!), and the night-blooming jasmine is so soft as to almost be unnoticeable. They are surprisingly subtle additions to this velvety dusk, and for once I would not take away the florals from a blend if I could.

 

I think I might upgrade The Night-Raven to a bottle at some point! What a win!

 

 

[alyelle]

In the imp: Patchouli and rose geranium.

 

Wet: Patchouli base but covered with a layer of sweet wild plum, musk, and the tiniest hint of jasmine. A summer or early autumn fragrance.

 

Dry: A wonderful, plummy patchouli  - my only wish is that it lasted longer! It's not short lived by any means, just so lovely that I want more. 

 

Stars: ★★★★

[Lit Chick]

This is a weird one.  I get clean crisp floral, kind of a purple-green smell.  I really like it, but there’s a hint of an off note.  Like a touch of stank.  Maybe it’s the musk, maybe it’t the rotten note that jasmine can have. In any case on my skin it smells like I’m using a lovey fresh perfume to cover up some workout BO.    

Alas, not for me.